In this 2003 file photo, Nandita Berry walks next to her husband, Michael Berry, when he announced his intentions to run for Houston mayor.

Photo By Texas Government

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has appointed attorney Nandita Berry as the 109th Texas Secretary of State, effective Jan. 7, 2014. The first Indian-American to fill the post, Berry will serve as the state's chief elections officer, the governor's liaison on border and Mexican affairs, and Texas' chief protocol officer for state and international matters.

AUSTIN - Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday appointed Houston lawyer Nandita Berry to be secretary of state, succeeding John Steen Jr. of San Antonio, who announced his resignation this month.

Berry's appointment, effective Jan. 7, will make her the first Indian-American to hold the position of chief elections officer for Texas, Perry said.

"Nandita Berry personifies what is possible through hard work and dedication in the state of Texas," Perry said in a statement announcing the appointment. She was 21 when she arrived from India "with nothing but $200 to her name" and has become "one of the most accomplished attorneys in the state."

"I am truly humbled to follow in the footsteps of Stephen F. Austin, Texas' first secretary of state," Berry said in a statement. "Like him, I came to Texas in search of a better life and the limitless opportunities to be found across our great state."

Berry has been on the University of Houston board of regents as a Perry appointee but resigned that post to become secretary of state, according to the governor's office. She is senior counsel at Locke Lord LLP, a position the firm said she also will resign.

She is married to radio talk-show host and former Houston City Councilman Michael Berry, who drew attention in 2010 for saying on his show he hoped that if a mosque were built near the New York City site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks that it would be blown up. He later apologized for his words but maintained that the mosque should not be built. He also has referred to Houston Mayor Annise Parker as Annise "Porker," and refers to liberals as "libtards."

As secretary of state, Nandita Berry will be the state's chief elections officer as well as the governor's liaison on border and Mexican affairs and the state's chief protocol officer for state and international matters. The secretary of state's office also is the repository for business records, among other responsibilities.

"This is great news for Nandy and for the citizens of Texas," said Ken Simon, managing partner of Locke Lord's Houston office. "Nandy is skilled, experienced and a natural leader. Her colleagues and clients at Locke Lord will greatly miss her - but we know she will be a dedicated and respected secretary of state and she will do an outstanding job representing the state of Texas."

Rep. Jessica Farrar, D-Houston, said she is not familiar with Nandita Berry's work and does not want to prejudge her but that her husband's profile "could cause some concern."

"He makes his living being controversial now," Farrar said. "This is an office that is supposed to be totally impartial to either party, even though it is a political appointment. You have to reach a really high level of public trust. I think his activities are a hindrance to that public trust."

Rice University political scientist Mark Jones said the new secretary of state is coming in at "an especially sensitive time, given the controversy surrounding the Texas voter ID legislation."

Jones said that "at a superficial level," Perry's decision to appoint a minority could help deflect Democratic criticism that the law is disenfranchising voters. Republicans say the measure is meant to promote ballot security.

Nandita Berry is "quite likely very qualified, very talented and an excellent person for the job," Jones said, but her husband's job "just adds one other source of friction and noise in an area of debate that is already quite full of controversy and conflict."

Berry will succeed Steen, who said he is leaving the post to focus on his private law practice and management of his family's investments.